Elevator



De c. 7 1926. 1,609,979

J. M. WHALBE ELEVATOR Filed August 11 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1v Z4 ug .25.

lNVENTOR ATrRNEY "Dec."'7','i926. 1,609,979

J. M. WHALBE ELEVATOR Filed August 11 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY i atented Dec. 7, 1926.

JACOB IVE. YWHALBE, NEW YORK, N. Y5

ELEVATSR.

App1ication filed August 11, 1925. Serial No. 19,543.

This invention relates to elevators, and my improvements are directed to certain mechanisms whereby the shaft doors and car gate are coordinated. in their operation and are held locked while the car is moving between floors, said mechanisms however permitting the locking means to be released for the car gate and the door of a'shaft landing at which acar has come to rest.

Also my improvements include means for automatically locking the car control, with the power off, when the car has reached a shaft landing and the locks for the shaft door and car gate have both been released, this control lock remaining effective during the period in which the shaft door and car gate have been opened and until again closed and locked in their closed positions.

In my earlier Patent No. 1,e17,878, dated May 30, 1922, there are disclosed other mechanisms for the safety operation of elevators, and my present invention may be re garded as inthe nature of a development of my original conception, wherein the parts employed have been simplified and their performance rendered more positive.

Still further my present invention includes other ancillary features permitting inde pendent operation of the shaft doors and car gate to be performed as emergency provisions, as for example in the event of a car becoming stalled between floors.

Other features and advantages of my invention will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings:

'Figure 1 is an interior view of a car, looking toward the front thereof, said car located in a shaft, the view showing the car gate, a shaft door, the car control, and my improved locking and lock releasing mechanism.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the locking and lock releasing mechanism for the shaft door.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail side sectional view showing the support for a shaft door.

Fig. i is a detail of the mechanism for coordinating the opening and closing movements of the car gate and shaft door.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a detail showing a modified form of mechanism for coordinating the movements of the car gate and shaft door.

. usual type,

Fig. 9 is a detailshowing a modified form of control locking mechanism.

Fig. 10 is a diagr mmatic view of the car gate and shaft door movement co-ordinating mechanism. i

Fig. 11 is a detail of auxiliary locking and lock release mechanism for the shaft door, and

Fig. 12 is a sectionon the line 12-12 of Fig. 1.

In said views let 1 indicate the shaft for ail-elevator, 2 a shaft door, 3 a car in the shaft, f a car gate, and a control lever whereby the power to operate the car may be applied. i i

The shaft door,'as usual, is hung'by wheels 6 uponv a rail 7,. and the car gate, of the is'movahle from its forward verticalloar 8 to its fixed vertical bar 9. Said gate-bar 8 extends downwardly to a point below the car floor 10, and there engages a boss 11 that is slldably carried by a horizontal bar 12. The bar 12 issquared in crosssection at its intermediate portion, but is.

circular in cross-section at its ends for revoluble support in the respective bearingsll, 14. The boss 11 has a squared orifice 15 to receive the squared portion of the shaft, but

the circular c'rosssection of the shaft at its forward end is extended back a sufficient extent to lie'within the boss when the car gate is in its closed position. The reason for this arrangement will now appear.

The rear end ofshaft 12 is engaged by a' crank 15 that is actuated by a rod 16 which vertically intersects the axis of the control lever shaft, the rod 16 being vertically re- "ciprocable in the operation of said control lever by suitable means co-acting between said rod and control lever. The shaft 12 and boss 11 are so related that the squared portion of the shaft is aligned with orifice 15 when the control lever. is in its neutral position, with the power off (see Fig. 1), but when the control. lever is moved, in either direction, from that neutral positiom the gate being closed-then the forward end of the squared portion of the shaft will abut against the rear surface of boss 11, andfthus lock the gate from any opening movement.

-Hence, the gate cannot be opened while the power is,on and the car in motion. Conversely, when, with the power oif-the control being at neutral and the gate partially or fully opened, then, as will be apill) .21 being affixed to the boss.

equivalent "extended between the respective ends of the cross-bar and the fitting.

The engagement'between the gate bar 3 and'boss- 11 is here shown (see Fig. l2)--as effected by the provision of a vertical recess in=the forward surface of the boss for the-reception of bar 8, a recess covering plate The bar 8 is thus capable of independent vertical movement while itself holding the boss against rotation.

The shaft doors are normally held in their closed positions by individual locking mechanisms, having release means, which will now be described by aid of the example thereof illustrated in Fig. 2.

In this view (see also Fig. 1) appears a plate 22 secured in a suitable position in the elevator shaft, said plate having a horizontally arranged rack 23 attached thereto for engagement by a horizontally disposed pawl 2-iepivotally carried by a vertical bar 25 that is attached to the shaft door. The plate 22 may have a cover 26 applied in spacedre-la-' tion thereto, for which purpose an intervening wall extends about the upper port on of said plate leaving a clearance at the lower portion for the operation of pawl 24,but

' otherwise providing an enclosure for the-e1;-

'clusion of dust, etc.

When the pawl 24 is engaged with rack 23, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the shaft door, being closed, is thereby locked against opening movement, and, obviously, said shaft door cannot be opened until the pawl has been disengaged from the rack. To-effect such disengagement l provide a vertically slidable bar 27, operable in guides '28 secured to the shaft door, said'bar 27 having a slot 28 which engages a pin 29 extended from pawl 24:, so that when bar 27 is moved upwardly it will lift the pawl 24 to release the latter from the-rack, and then the shaft door is free to be opened.'

A bell crank having the arms 30, 31 is pivoted at 32 to plate 22 above the pawl 24, the free end of arm lying upon the upper surface of pawl 24:, and the arm 31, which extends upwardly, carrying a stud 33 that projects outwardly through a slot in cover plate 26. Also pivoted, at 35, to the plate 22 is a gravity pawl 36, whose free forward end bears against the end of pawl 2st, in the normal, locked position of the latter, saidpawl 36 having a tooth 37 adapted to apparent that when the car ing operation of the shaft door. The dotted lines 1 Fig. show the raised position of pawl and arm 30; also the engagement of arm 3i) by tooth 3? as the pawl 36 swings inwarc ly by gravity when the pawl 24k has been withdrawn. The bell crank is intended to co-act with certain other mechanism forloeking the control against operation when the door is unlocked, and the car is at .a shaft-landing. It is for this purpose that the stud 33 is carried by arm3l and is moved by the bell crank to the dotted line position of Fig. with the raising of pawl 24, because then a shoe 38, associated with the contr-ol,-constitutes with stud 33 a lock for the control to prevent operation of thec ar.

The shoe 38 is shown in Fig. 1 as carried by a bar 39 that is slidable in guides 40 along the top of the car, inposition to pass the stud 33 in the travel of the car, and to have opposed contact with said stud 33 when the car is at a shaft landing and the bell crank has been rocked in unlocking the shaft door. The control actuated rod 16 is connected, through a bell crankdl that is pivoted at $2 to the car, and a horizontally disposed with the bar 39, so that the shoe 38, a F.

rod a3, when in opposed'contact with stud 33, the control heing at neutral, will thereby lock said control against actuation until the shaft 7 door has been closed. 7

As here shown the bar 39 has an end plate 4% which providesan anchorage for the rod 43, adjustment means being provided comprising a threaded end 45 for rod 43, with nuts 46; also said end portion may be in jointedrelation to rod 33, as at et't".

The shoe 38 is shown provided with end inclines d8 for the purpose of guiding'it paststud in both directions of its movement.

From the foregoing description it will be has arrived at a position where its iioor is aligned with a shaft floor, and the pawl 2 has been raised to its lock released position by upward movement of bar 2'- 2, thereby shoe 33 has abutting contact with stud 33, thus preventing movement of rod 43 and consequently of rodilG, so that the control lever is held back by these means in its neutral position, with the power off. In this position of the car both the cargate and shaftdoor can be operated, and a feature of my present invention consists in the provision of means for co-ordinating the opening and closing movements so that the gate and door may be both opened and closed through a single operation.

Therefore I provide a bell-crank which is pivoted as-49 to the shaft door and hasarms 4, rocking the bell-crank to bring arm 31 to its dotted line position of 7 5O, 51, the arm lying within guide pins extended from the shaft door, and having a projection or head 53, and the arm 51 having a slot 5s that engages a pin 55 carried by the bar 27. Mounted upon the car gate is a plate 56 that carries a pair of shoes 57 58, in spaced opposed relation and positioned normally to pass the head 53, at respective sides thereof in the travel of the car, and so that when the car reaches a land ing the head 53 will lie between the shoes In this last named position the move-- ment of the car gate in opening is communicating through shoe 57 and head 53 to the shaft door, to also open the latter, and the closing movement of the car gate is communicated through shoe 58 and head 53 to the shaft door, to also close the latter.

Preliminary to the opening movement of the car gate the bell-crank is rocked due to the slight play allowed arm 50 between pins in which rocking'inovement the arm 51 serves to raise bar 27 to perform the lock releasing operation necessary to free the shaft door for its opening movement.

The plate 56 is shown as secured at one end to a forward bar 59 of the car gate, and as being slidable within a strap 60 carried by a rearward bar 61 of said gate.

The car gate may have a handle 62 for its n'ianipulation.

In some buildings the car gate and shaft doors are too heavy to be conveniently opei ated in unison by direct action such as is available through the use of a handle like that indicated at 62. Therefore, in such contingencies I provide means for multiplying the leverage with which the opening and closing operations are performed. Thus, for example, I pivot a manually operable lever 63, at 6%, to a bracket 65 that is aecured to the car floor; said lever having a spur 66, from which a pivotal link 67 depends, said link 67 being pivotally connected by a horizontal link 68 with alever (59, that, at its free end, is provided with a slot 7 0, whereby it engages a pin 71 carried by the plate 56. Now, it will be apparent that when lever 63 is grasped by its handle 72, and pulled toward the left (see Fig. l), the efiect, through linkage 67, 58, will be to draw the upper portion of lever 69, and plate 56, in the same direction, the lower portion of lever 69 which is fast to pivot mounted in bracket 73 that is secured to the under surface of the car, thereby enabling the applied leverage to be exerted horizontally upon plate 56.

It will be understood that the our floor is suitably apertnred to receive the link 67.

Movement of the lever 63 to the right 1) serves to close the car gate andshaft door.

The head 53, carried by arm 50 of the bellcrank, and adapted to engagethe shoes 57, for the joint operation'of the car gate and a shaft door, is shown in Figs. 5 and 8 in the form of a wheel, carried by a shaft 74, which is reciprocably slidable in a bracket 75, against the tension of a spring 76, lying between said wheel and bracket, a stop 7 7 on the shaft-74 coacting with the bracket tolimit the outward ll'lOYGlIlQIliZOl' the wheel. The purpose in thus yieldingly mounting the head or wheel 53 upon arm 50 is to avoid the liability of breakage through faulty alignment. It is understood that the car in its travel causes the interspacc separating shoes 57, 58 to receive head 53, and with proper alignment said shoes will freely pass the head without striking it. But if for example the head is not aligned with the inter-space that separates the shoes, then it is liable to be struck by one of said shoes, and while said shoes have bevelled ends, as seen, to give them a tendency to glide over an obstruction, I have found it desirable to pro- Vide a spring support for the head so that it may yield when struck by a shoe, thereby enabling the shoe to depress said head when passing thereover.

The clearance between some shaft doors and the car gate is sufiicient to permit the head 53 to be extended out by its spring support in the 'i'nanner shown in Figs. 4 and 5. But there are other instances where the clearance is insuiiicient. Therefore in Fig. 8 I have shown a modification wherein a wheel or head 7 8 lies closer to the shaft door in its bearing 7 9 no unlocking means such as the bell-crank with arms 50, 51 being employed), and the shoes 8O, 81 which are carried by dogs 82, 83 pivotally mounted upon the car gate, are yieldingly held extended by springs 84, 85 that lie between said gate and dogs.

It is of course desirable, in the interest of safety, that the car floor should be exactly or very nearly aligned with a shaft landing; before the shaft door canbe opened, and while in the joint operation of the shaft door with the car gate the shoes 57, 58 may be very short in length to thereby establish the position of the car, within a given range of its movement relatively to the landing whereat the shaft door can be unlocked and opened together with the opening of the car gate, I may, also, without limiting the length of shoes 5 58, provide auxiliary locking means for the shaft door, releasable only when the car floor is aligned with the landing.

These auxiliary locking and release means are shown in Fig. 11 and comprise a bellcrank, pivoted at 86 within casing 87 secured to the shaft door, near its bottom, said bell-crank having the horizontal arm 88 and vertical arm 89, the latter having a projecting stud 90. The arm 88 pivotally carries a pendent detent 91 that extends through a slot 92 in casing 87, and normally til engages a stop 93 secured to the wall of the shaft, to thereby lock the shaft door in its. closed position. In order to release this look the bell-crank is to be rocked aboutits pivot. For this. purpose I provide a cam which is mounted on the car floor and adapted to strike the stud when the. car floor arrives at about the-level of the land ing, travelling in either direction, the cam co-acting with the stud to rock the bellcrank and thereby release the lock. But v. nen t in leaves the stud 90, the bell:- crank l 'ravity resumes its position in which t iet-ent again may function as av lock.

in Fig. 9 I have shown a modified ineans for actuating the control locking. mechanism. In this view. the shaft which connects with the crank 15 is indicated at 95 and carries a wheel 96 that lies in an arcuate recess 97' formed in a disk carried by the control lever. In consequence-the shaft 05 is raised by movement of the control lever in either direction, by the wheel 96 riding up the arcuate recess until it reaches the periphery of disk 98, and when ther the rod 95 is held fixedly at the limit of its movement. With this form of my control lock the shoe 99 would be liable to break in striking against stud 33, and therefore I place a yielding connection, in the form of, a spring 100 between the rod 101 and plate 102, to thereby absorb such shocks as. may be communicated to shoe 99.

For emergency use it may be necessary to operate the car with boththe car gate and shaft doors open, and in such instances provision is made for rendering the control lock ineffective. Thus the rod 16 (or 95). may be composed of sections 103,104 7). in opposed, spaced relation, and secured within a sleeve 105. ()ne. section may be secured to the sleeveby a removable pin 106 that, when removed, permits the operation of the control without actuation of the shoe 38 (or 99). That portion of sleeve 105 con-- taining pin 106 can be encased within a box 107 having a glass front 108 that can be broken to give access to the pin.

In Fig. 10 I have only diagrammatically illustrated a fundamental principle underlying a salient feature of my invention, wherein a shaft door carries locking means a. co-acting with a detent b fixed to the shaft, and the car gate has opposed shoes 0 0 that engage a projection from a bellcrank cZ- co-acting with the locking means a to releasethe lock and to cause the gate and door to operate in unison.

Emergencies may arise when, a car becoming stalled at somepoint in the shaft other than at a landing, it may become desirable for a shaft door tobe-opened from the outside. For this purpose I provide an orifice 109- through. the shaft door (shown by 2.-

dotted circle in'Fig. 1)* for the introduction ofv a p ointed. implement, which can then be entered within a hole or recess 110 in the bar 27' to lift said bar and thereby release theshaft door lock.

Variations withinthe spirit and scope of my invention are equally comprehended by the foregoing disclosure.

I claim: I

1. The combinationwith an elevator shaft, a door therefor, car operable within said shaft, and a gate for said car, of a lock comprising afixedelement secured to said shaft and a movable element carried by said door, adapted to. engage said fixed element when the door is closed, thereby locking the shaft door, and means, slidablymounted on said door, and operable from within the car, to release said movable element from said fixed element, thereby unlocking the shaft door.

The combination, with an elevator shaft, a door therefor, a car operable in said shaft, and a gate for said car, of a. lock comprising a fixed element secured to said shaft and a movable element carried by said door adapted toengage said fixed element when the door is closed, thereby locking the door, means slidably mounted; on said .door to release said movable element from said fixed element, thereby unlockingv the shaft door, pivotal means mounted on said door to actuate said release means, and means carried by said gate and. operable therewith in its opening movement to control said release actuating means.

8. The combination with an elevator shaft, a door therefor, a car operable in said shaft and a gate for said car, of a lock comprising a fixed element secured to said shaft and a movable element carried by said door adapted to engage said fixed element when the door is closed, thereby locking the door, means slidably mounted on said door to release said movable element from said fixed element, thereby unlocking the shaft door, pivotal means mounted on said door to actuate said rclease means, stops to. limit the movement in opposite directions of said pivotal means, and means carried by said gate and operable therewith in its opening movement (first, to control said release actuating means, (second) to co-ordinate the opening movement of the gateand door and (third) to co-ordinate the closing movements of the car and door.

4. The combination with an elevator shaft having a landing, a door for said landing, locking means for said door, a car operable in said shaft and a gate for said car, of release means for said locking means, release actuating means, and means on said gate, operable when the car is nead the landing, to directly control said release actuatingmeans.

5. The combination with an elevator shaft having a landing, adoor, for said. landing,

locking means for said door, a car operable in said shaft, and a gate for said car, of re when the car is near a landing to controlsaid pivotal means, first with respect to its actuation of the release means and second, by aid of said movement limiting means, for

communicating the operation of the car gate to the shaft door. 7

6. The combination with an elevator shaft having a landing, a door for said landing, locking means for said door, a car operable in said shaft, and a gate for said car, of slidable release means for said locking means, a bell-crank pivoted to said door, one arm of said bell-crank engaging said release means and its other arm having aprojecting head, stop means to limit the movement of said bell-crank, and opposed shoes in spaced relation positioned upon said gate to receive between them said projecting head when the car arrives near a landing whereby the opening movement of thegate is communicated through the bell-crank, first to the release means for the lOCkiIlg means and second for like operation of the landing door.

7. The combination with an elevator shaft having a landing, a door for said landing, a car operable in said shaft and a gate for said car, of a projection upon said door, and a pair of fixed spaced shoes upon said gate adapted to pass said projection at opposite sides thereof in the operation of the car, said shoes having bevelled ends and being so positioned that they will co-act with said projection when the car is near the landing to communicate the opening and closing movement of the gate to the door.

8. The combination with an elevator shaft having a landing, a door for said landing, a car operable in said shaft and a gate for said car, of a projection upon said door, and a. pair of fixed spaced shoes upon said gate adapted to pass said projection at opposite sides thereof in the operation of the car, said shoes having beveled ends and being so positioned that they will eo-act with said projection when the car is near the landing to communicate the opening and closing move ment of the gate to the door, and spring means providing horizontal yielding motion between said projection and shoes, to prevent breakage when through faulty alignment a shoe strikes the projection.

9. In an elevator system, having a shaft and a car operable in said shaft, the combination of a fixed lock element upon said shaft, a movable lgck element carried by said door, release means for said movable lock element mounted on said door, power control means mounted in said car, pivotal means carrying a stud and movable with the release of said movable lock element, to 10+ cate said stud in a predetermined position, a shoe slidably mounted on the car and adapted to abut against said stud when the car arrives at a landing, and connecting means between the power control means and shoe to prevent the operation of the control while said shoe and stud are in abutting relation. I

10. The combination with an elevator shaft having a landing, a car in said shaft,

a power control lever mounted in said car,

a vertical rod extended through said car in intersection with the axis of the controllever-fulcrum, a cross-bar upon said control lever, connecting means between the arms of said cross-bar and said rod, whereby the moven'ient of the control lever from neutral in either direction raises said rod, a horizontal rod slidably, mounted upon the car, a shoe carried by said horizontal rod, :1 bell-crank connecting said vertical and horizontal rods, a landing door, locking meanstherefor, and meansinfluenced by said looking means, when released, with the car at the landing, to then lie in the path of said shoe and thereby prevent the operation of the control lever.

11. The combination With an elevator shaft having a. landing, a car in said shaft,

a power control lever mounted in said car, a vertical rod extended through said car in intersection with the axis of the control-leverfulcrum, means upon said control-lever coacting with said rod to raise it a predetermined height with the movement of the control lever from neutral in either direction, a horizontal rod slidably mounted upon the car, a shoe carried by said horizontal rod, a bell-crank connecting said vertical and horizontal rods, a landing door, locking means therefor, and means influenced by said locking means, when released, with the car at the landing, to then lie in thepath of said shoe and thereby prevent the operation of the control lever.

12. The combination with an elevator car having a gate, and a control mounted within said car, of a vertical rod operatively connected tosaid control, a horizontal member extended beneath the car and having a squared portion, bearings for said horizontal member, a boss having a squared orifice to receive the squared portion of the horizontal. member, means extended from the gate to prevent rotation of said boss, and crank connecting means between said vertical rod and horizontal member, to rotate the latter whereby the squared orifice in the boss aligns with the squared portion of the horizontal member when the control is at neutral, to then permit the gate to be opened, and whereby the end of said squared portion abuts against the boss to lock the gate closed when the control is in operation.

13. The combination with an elevator shaft having closure means and a car in said shaft also having closure means, of interengaging means between the respective closure means, whereby the operation of one is communica ed to the other-{means including a lever having a fixed fnlcrin'n at one end and being in pivotal engagement with one of said closure means at'its other end, a manually operable lever, also having afixed fulcrum, and linkage between said levers for increasing the power ap plied for the operation of said closure means,

Ill. T he conib'ination with an elevator shaft having a landing, a door therefor, a car in said shaft and a gate for said car, of projecting means on said door, means upon said gate adapted to engage said projecting means, when the car is near the landing so that the door and gate may operate in nnison, means including a lever having a li fulcrum at one end and being in pivotal engagement with one of said closnre means at its other end, a manually operable lever also having a fixed fulcrum, and linkage between iid levers for increasing the power applied for the operation of said closure means.

15. The con'ib'ination with an elevator shaft having a landing, a door therefor, and a car in said shaft, of a fixed detent upon said shaft, a bell-crank pivoted to said door, a pivotal latch, pendent from said bellcrank, normally in engagement with said detent, to lock the door in its closed position, a shoe carried by the car, and means operable from within the car which cause said shoe to rock the bell-crank and thereby release the latch from the detent When the car arrives at the landing.

16. The combination with an elevator shaft having a landing, a door therefor, a car in said shaft and a control for said car, of locking means for said door, stop means means. when released, and means connected with said control means to engage said step means when in its set position and thus hold the control at neutral.

17. The con'ihination with an elevator shaft having a landing, a door therefor, a car in said shaft and a control for said car, of locking means said door, stop means i ovahlc to a set position by said locking 2 ans. when released, and connected with said control n'ieans to engage said stop n'ieans when in its set position and thus hold the control at neutral, said control connected means including separated rod sections, a sleeve connecting said sections and means tor readily disconnecting; the sleev from one of said sections to pernfit the free operation of the control.

18. Thc combination with an elevator shaft, a door therefor, and a car in said shaft, of locking means for said door, and lock release "162L118 including a verticlly lable bar operable from within the car,

-sa d doorbeing provided with an orifice to said bar for its emen affording access encj actuation.

19. The combination with an elevator shaft, a lanoing therefor, a door for said landing, and a car in said shaft, of locking elements carried respectively bvsaid shaft and dooigand lock release means carried by said door, said release means being operable irom within the car.

20. The combination with an elevator shaft, a landing therefor, a. door for said landing, and a car in said shaf of locking means for said door, lock release means carried by said door, said loclz'release means being operable from within the car, and con-- trol means for said release means, said control means also serving as the means where'- by said door is operable.

Executed this 10th day of July, 1925.

J ACOB M. lVH'ALBF. 

